It is generally well known to utilize a small hollow needle to assist in introducing a catheter into the lumen of a blood vessel. As known in the prior art the needle is typically positioned coaxially within the catheter or cannula with its distal end projecting beyond the distal end of the catheter. To assist in feeding the catheter into the blood vessel, a guide wire is typically fed through the hollow needle and into the blood vessel after the needle has been properly positioned within the vessel. Numerous prior art devices have been proposed to facilitate the percutaneous catheterization of a blood vessel. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,961,729; 4,650,472; 4,772,264 and 4,655,750.
Unfortunately, many of the prior art devices do not provide a means for containing the guide wire as an integral part of the unit. These devices require that the practitioner insert the wire through the needle after it has been inserted into the blood vessel. The device shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,750, however, discloses an integral guide wire positioned through the center plug of the introducer needle wire which is contained in a sterile bag covering the proximal end of the guide wire. U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,886 discloses a catheter mounted over an introducer needle in which the guide wire is positioned within a proximally mounted tube having a slot for guiding a wire pushing mechanism for insertion through the needle into the blood vessel.
While attempts have been made to facilitate the use of a wire guide in catheter introducer needles, these devices are both complex and relatively expensive. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arterial catheter system which provides a low cost, relatively simple and easy to use catheter system having an integral guide wire. It is a further an object of the invention to overcome the limitations of prior art catheter systems in a cost effective manner. It is also an object of the invention to provide a catheter having a distal means to inhibit the penetration of the catheter through the opposite wall of the vessel and reduce the tendency of the catheter to be withdrawn from the vessel lumen when the guide wire is inserted into the vessel lumen.